The Dark Days, cont. (#24)

 Continued research for my next historical novel: Peter and Paul.

It is hard to imagine how a group of men who never faced any challenges other than keeping “body and soul” together, were suddenly thrust into an existence well beyond their means to comprehend. I repeat, those early followers of Yeshûa were simple, (with one exception) uneducated men, who must have felt completely out of their depth.

Chapter ONE (draft, continued)

The Dark Days (excerpt)

Andrew was worried about his elder brother. He’d aged, fast, during just these last few years. Already his short trimmed beard was showing signs of gray hair. Andrew suspected that since the Master’s departure Shimon felt great weight pressing him down to earth. Literally, down to earth. Perhaps he was trying to reconcile heaven and earth into a single entity, like two sides of a single coin. Perhaps it was all the decisions he had to make. Everyone wanted his opinion, his advise.

I’m a simple fisherman, Andrew heard him say. Many a time. A simple fisherman…

But no one believed him. He really had to be Kepha, a rock; strong; unbending; not to cave in under all the expectations.

Shimon looked up for an instant. The next moment his eyes lost focus and drifted back, to the world of his own. Then, a gentle smile broadened his mouth. Andrew wondered if his brother would ever share his daydreams with him.

The wind was rising…

Just sitting there, amidships, on the rough-hewn board spanning from side to side, his two friends stretching abaft. A gentle sway of the dying wind… then silence, darkness, the sky punctured only by the stars of Yahweh. We cast our nets and waited, he recalled, catching a few hours of sleep.

“Not I. I’d sit silent, listening to the stars,” he murmured, hardly aware of Andrew’s presence. And then he repeated softly, “I miss fishing.” 

I miss fishing… It really did sound like a mantra.

The waters rose with restrained anger and instantly he began drowning. Have faith, He said. Have faith. Trust me. The power lies within you.

Yeshûa was standing, seemingly on the water. He watched the Master walk towards him hardly touching the waves. Almost floating.

Come to me,” Yeshûa tempted, his voice relaxed, encouraging him with a smile. “Don’t be afraid…”

 (to be continued)